


An Afternoon Off

by garilin



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: M/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 09:58:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14871605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garilin/pseuds/garilin
Summary: It had been Ryder's idea; the man had decided his squad needed a break, and Bain, despite not fully trusting him and his fellows, couldn't say no, especially when Ryder'd proposed they play for answers over currency.





	An Afternoon Off

The pathfinder was younger than Bain thought he'd be, soft and kind under all that professionalism. His eyes were bright, friendly, and his face had a certain warmth to it even when he wasn't smiling. When Ryder dropped that polite mask to joke around with him, it felt more intimate than it had any right to.

Another thing Bain hadn't expected was his skill with poker. It had been Ryder's idea; the man had decided his squad needed a break, and Bain, despite not fully trusting him and his fellows, couldn't say no, especially when Ryder'd proposed they play for answers over currency. Bain had thought Harper and Nyx would be joining them, but the two were far more interested in each other than they were in anything else. He didn't think they were dating--yet.

At first, Ryder's questions had been purely impersonal, and Bain had responded in kind. They'd traded information about the kett and the remnant, about the uprising and the exiles (not that Bain knew much), about the Nexus and the angara, and about the progress Ryder had made settling Andromeda for humanity (and everyone else). Bain found that Ryder was glass half-full sort of person. He was ruthlessly optimistic and felt a curious kinship with the other races. All of the Alliance types Bain'd run into had held some sort or wariness, sometimes distaste, for aliens. Bain wondered if it was a Ryder thing or something the Initiative had enforced in him during training, something that hadn't been necessary for Bain, who'd had zero chance of becoming pathfinder.

But then, things turned a bit more personal.

"How'd you end up here?" Bain asked, which earned him a story about distant fathers and illegal A.I. research.

"Did you leave anything in the Milky Way?" Ryder asked, so Bain ended up telling him about a mother dead too soon and a dog he'd sadly had to leave with a coworker.

At one point, Bain said, "You're not too shabby. Who taught you?"

"My mom," Ryder answered. "You should play my engineer, Gil. He cleared me out without breaking a sweat."

Bain huffed. "Maybe I'm just getting old."

"Don't count yourself out just yet," Ryder said with a smirk, eyes trailing down Bain's body.

"My eyes are up here, little duck."

Ryder's eyes snapped up here to meet Bain's gaze, smirk evolving into a smile. "I was meaning to ask about that. What with the nickname?"

"Don't like it?"

"I didn't say that."

Bain considered the man across from him. As he watched, Ryder's smile faded into a pale, polite imitation of itself. The man was nervous, he realized.

"It just fits you. Little duck."

Ryder snorted, an inelegant thing. "That's not a real answer."

"If you really want to know, you'll have to meet me at Podromos tonight. I am allowed there, aren't I?"

"Of course."

Bain gathered the cards and placed them back into the box, sliding it over to Ryder's side of the table. "You're too trusting, you know that?"

"It's all worked out for me so far," Ryder replied with a shrug.

"Tonight, Podromos. I'll secure us a room."

"Awfully sure of yourself, aren't you?"

It was Bain's turn to shrug. "You'll be there. Don't you have more errands to run for the common folk?"


End file.
